Gotham: Quake
by TheHer0
Summary: What happens to Gotham and its protectors when the city is plunged into yet another crisis? And what happens when they find out that it wasn't quite the doings of Mother Nature? Limits are reached and Morals are tested as everything the Batfamily has worked for crumbles before their eyes. NOT A NO MAN'S LAND FANFIC
1. Nightwing

**Disclaimer:I do not own Batman or any of his properties or titles related to the works of DC Comics.**

**Please Read!**

**Hey guys, so i hope some of you from my previous work, Justice League: Endgame have made the transfer over to this section. I'm really sorry for any troubles i've caused any of you and i'm so psyched to make up for that with this story, which, i think, is going to go places. But, this can only be accomplished with FeedBack! As i stated in the Author's note of Endgame, this is vital, so i will repeat it to those who are new to my works. I have a policy: i will continue to post as long as i continue to recieve reviews. That being said i will except any kinds of critisism, including: If you do/don't like the story, why you do/don't like it, what i can do to make you like it, and any ideas considering plot/POVs**

**Phew, now that that's over with, lets get to the story, shall we?**

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**Gotham: Quake**

Nightwing I

It was a dark night, a cold one for Dick Grayson. He had to learn to re-adjust to the hurried winds of Gotham City, after spending so much time in Bludhaven, where the wind currents were blocked by the towering skyscrapers that lay at the edge of its sister city. But here, at the heart of Gotham and in the heart of night, there was no escaping the prevailing wind that Dick suddenly decided he liked. No matter how much he missed Bludhaven, Gotham always held a special place in his heart, Gotham was his _home._

"Dick? You There?" Dick was brought back by the sound of a familiar voice in his ear. It was Tim. He grinned as he rose a hand to his earpiece, steadying himself on his stone gargoyle perch.

"What's up, Baby Bird?" Dick knew he hated that, especially when Barbara or Cassie used it, but he also knew he was the only one who could get away with it.

"Just wrapped it up with Ivy. Babs and Cass are still out on Scarecrow, and Bruce took Demon Breath into the sewers."

"Croc?"

"Who else?"

"Look, Tim, I know you're going out of your way and all-"

"No. Its perfectly fine. I guess I need a break from the team every once in a while. Bart practically shoved me out the door the minute I left him in charge.. Besides, you guys couldn't handle this breakout all by yourselves, and its good to come back here, even though I haven't exactly gotten to take leisure in my stay..."

Dick laughed and shook his head. It was good to have his brother back, even if it was for a short while. Ever since the Red Robin had left to lead his own version of the Titans, this time over in New York City, he rarely came back to Gotham, save for a few calls on slow days, which just wasn't the same. It was only on emergencies, such as tonight's latest Arkham breakout, that Tim left to lend an extra hand.

"Well then I guess we should-" Dick's sentence was cut off by a low rumbling sound, a sound that Dick had heard once before, and had hoped he never had to hear again. "Tim? Tim!" Dick yelled frantically, hoping to get in contact with his little brother before _it_ happened. _ Not Again, _he thought, _this can't be happening! _

The sound was abrubt, but the feel was what surprised Tim. The way he felt it reverberate in his chest frightened him and he had to get away. But it was all over. He couldn't get away, it was impossible. The ground shook, and Tim's feet felt unsteady on the pavement. It was pretty loud, in fact it was really loud, but Tim heard none of that. All the 16 year old crime-fighter noticed was the widening cracks in the ground below him and then darkness, and then what felt like the entire world open up and swallow him whole.


	2. Batman

**Okay so that chapter was short, more like a prologue really, so i'll get things started with a Batman chapter. Remember in light of the prison breakout, there are a whole lot of crazy people on the loose, so that makes things that much harder for the batfamily. Also I want to thank those who took the time to comment on the story, a trend I hope continues as the story goes on. So**

**Remember to Read, Review, and Recommend TheHer0**

**Gotham: Quake**

Batman I

Batman grunted as he put his shoulder to the wall of cinderblock, lifting it off the limp body underneath him. Shoving it aside, he placed two fingers to the side of Killer Croc's neck. Nothing. Grimly Batman stepped over the body, silently cursing at himself, having allowed the first confirmed casuality die right next to him. He and Robin had been fighting the monsturous lizard when the quake hit. Bruce had taken a pretty good blow sheiding Damian from the hail of never-ending debris, in particular what seemed like a chunk out of a nearby building. It just so happened that was the very same chunk that had put a hole in the sewers and taken out Croc. It was strange, it had felt like an earthquake, sounded like an earthquake, acted like an earthquake, but something just wasn't right. But there was no time for that now. He had to find a way to get himself and Damian to the surface and fast. If things were just as bad as the whole No Man's Land Incident up there, that city needed a Batman.

"Father, the animal's lack of progressive skills does not fall upon your shoulders." Damian piped up, provoking a stern glare in his direction.

"We need to move. The quicker we get to the surface, the faster we can locate the others, ascess the damage, help the people."

"But father surely the "others" are in no need of assistance. Miss Gordon and Cain are an annoyance, Grayson will only treat me like a child, and Drake is much too inferior for a job like this."

"We'll need to check on Alfred as well."

Damian paused for a moment, "I guess that wouldn't be too-"

The Boy Wonder was cut off by a roar, inhuman and gutterly. Suddenly the pile of debris in front of the duo was blown open with such force that it ripped an entirely new hole, albeit small, in the sewer ceiling, and knocked the two into each other. As Batman struggled to his feet, he focused in on what had caused the disturbance.

"Grundy!" The zombie-like creature was one of many inmates from blackgate prison, which had sent over a majority of its prisoners to Arkham for a few short weeks while they worked on some "renovations". "Damian, move!" The swamp monster let out a tremendous roar and swatted at the elder Wayne, who dodged and ran up his chest, planted two ice caps on the monster's eyes, and flipped away just in time to watch them explode, blinding it just for a moment. Damian foolishly took that moment to ram Grundy head on, catching him off balance and sending him stumbling into the walls of the sewers and causing the entire tunnel to shake.

Solomon Grundy was not done. Swinging his arms at a dangerously high velocity, the creature punched several more holes in the sides, breaking through the steel walls and spraying dirt and rocks everywhere. It was only a matter of time before the entire tunnel came crashing down.

"Beware you overgrown oaf! For I am the son of the Bat!" Damian launched himself towards Grundy, front-flipping over and over. Finally reaching the monster, he unleashed six pellets of tear gas, kicked his face, and neatly back-flipped to his father, finishing proudly with his hands on his hips and his head held high.

"Damian!" Bruce snarled, casting a glance at Grundy, who began to stumble around on the verge of falling unconscious. "He was the only thing holding this place up! Now its all coming down!" It happened in slow motion, Grundy falling, steel piping, dirt, and rocks thundering down on top of him, and the entire sewer system caving in. As this was happening Batman saw the hole. It was a small hole, big enough for one person of small size to pass through, up and out into the world above. Wasting no time, Bruce picked up his son and thrust him out of the hole with just barely enough room to spare, bracing himself for the unstoppable wall of debris and Grundy, before everything went black.


	3. Red Robin

**Hey guys, this chapter is longer, much longer than the last one, actually. There's alot of action in this one, and a couple of shocking moments at the end so stay tuned and**

**Remember to Read, Review, and Recommend! TheHer0**

**Gotham: Quake**

Red Robin I

The dank smells of the underground tunnels didn't faze Tim, not anymore anyway. He had already guessed what had happened, it was an earthquake and it was a big one. He had fallen through dozens of feet of crumbling concrete; it had almost killed him, but he was capable, he could handle himself in these situations, and he knew it. It must have taken hours to dig his way out and into the tunnels. _I can follow these to the cave, if its even still standing, though I doubt Bruce would've went unprepared for this sort of thing, after the last time. _Tim looked around. The tunnel was held up by steel piping around the sides, which barely withstood the quake, after all, they were of WayneTech, so Tim knew they wouldn't fall through. Once again, he tried to make contact with someone, anyone, really.

"Batman? Dick? Barbara, Cass, somebody?" _Dammit._ Looking up, he saw the light of dawn drifting through an opening at the top. _If I can get over to park row, there's another opening. It'll lead straight to the Batcave. Then I can contact the team- _Tim's thoughts were cut off when a huge hand reached through the hole, grabbed his cape, and flung the Red Robin through the air and into the foundation of a broken down building. Aching, Tim stood, slowly getting to his feet and looked into the eyes of one of the last people he wanted to see at that moment.

"Hola pajarito, welcome to _Hell._"

Standing before the Red Robin was a mammoth of a man, standing at about 6'8'', with an outstanding physique to match that of a god, and a black mask bathed in streaks of white that emphasized the hatred towards the vigilante beneath him. _Bane. _

"How the Hell?"

Tim was cut off by a fist to his stomach, delivered at a staggering speed by Bane, which sent the crimefighter flying across the field of bent metal, shattered glass, and broken down pieces of stone and in through the window of a barely still standing jewlery shop.

"Caught you by surprise, did I? I bet you certainly did not expect to see the likes of me any time soon!" Bane's voice boomed throughout the quiet city, though the Red Robin doubted not many people were alive, or at least conscious, to hear it. Tim was aware of the terrorist making slow but steady steps towards the store, and he struggled to re-gain his own composure. "I have to admit, I was thinking about going dormant, for a while at least. I was having quite a hard time coming up with a scheme to wreck Gotham. This so-called Earthquake presented to me the perfect opportunity to swoop in and finally claim my place here." The footsteps stopped, along with the voice, and Tim tensed up, awaiting Bane's next move.

Just when it began to seem like he had stopped altogether, a monsterous hand burst through the store's doorway and side swiped Red Robin's head into the wall of the building, providing time for him to muscle through the door and advance on the former Boy Wonder. Dragging him by the cape, Bane heaved Tim up and into the air, sending him hurtling towards a huge glass case containing a vast array of diamond jewelery. Landing with a crash, Tim desperately tried to push himself up, only to be denied as Bane's palm pushed the back of his head down, spraying blood everywhere and shattering priceless shards of stone as he did so.

"No, no, no little bird.", he chuckled, "You are going nowhere just yet." Once again picking him up, Bane tossed him effortlessly through the wall in the back of the store, sending him rolling viciously across an area of barren overturned turf and into the side of a beat-up parked car. "You should have been expecting my return. Ever since you and your comrades mocked me for my foolish dependence on venom, I was determined to show you that even without it, I am superior. I think I've made my point." Laughing, Bane grabbed the Red Robin's face and lifted him up to the sky, preparing to claim his victory.

"Ahhh!" Suddenly Bane dropped Red Robin, clutching at his wrist, screaming in pain.

The batarang curved around, landing neatly in the hands of Damian Wayne, who was standing at the broken down walls of the Jewelery store, his cape fluttering in the slight breeze. "As much as I would have liked to see what would have transpired, It is my duty to order you to halt all extracirricular- oof!" Robin's monolougue was cut short by a flying tire, thrown by a very pissed off Bane.

"Ah, I see the even _smaller_ bird has decided to fly in." Bane grinned, walking over to the grounded boy wonder. "At least this will allow even more practice." The villian was then met by a pair of feet, knocking him backwards and allowing Damian to steady himself, where he immediately rushed towards Bane, preparing for a flurry of head-on attacks. "This one has some spark I can tell you that. But not for long." Bane took advantage of the youngster's abrasiveness by side-stepping, then grabbing him by the legs and flinging him in the direction of the fallen Robin, who had just began to regain consciousness. The two collided, dizzying Damian and further injuring Tim, who collapsed.

"Two for the price of one, I suppose, but which one goes first?" Bane decided on Damian, who kicked and squirmed as he was picked up, and brought over his head. "Instead of breaking you the 'old' way, let's do something more... creative." Slamming Damian to the ground, surely breaking a rib or two, Bane shifted his weight, laughed, and lifted his foot.

Tim saw everything in slow motion. It was unstoppable. In his state, inevitable. He saw Bane's foot rise to it's highest point and begin to come back down. "Bane! No!" He watched, helpless, as his boot came down upon young Damian Wayne's legs, snapping both like twigs with a thunderous crack, followed by a cry of intense pain and fear. _Defeat. _Ever so cruel, Bane laughed, shoving the broken body away from him and walking past the Red Robin, brushing off the weak hand trying to grasp at his bloody foot.

"Now, I have broken the Bat and the Bird, and with these victories, I will _Break_ Gotham!"

"Not while I'm in town you Son of a Bitch!"

Tim turned towards the familiar voice, but only saw a huge double-barreled shotgun shove it's way out of the shadows and pump three powerful rounds into Bane's chest, who dropped to his knees, paused a moment to look at his attacker, and fell flat on his face.

Not knowing if he should feel relief or caution, the Red Robin looked into the shadows and watched as one man walked out into the light for the first time.

"Jason?"


	4. Red Hood

**Well that chapter was exciting to write, so this one will pick up right where it left off, but from the POV of Jason Todd, a.k.a the Red Hood. Personally I love him as a character and he will add a lot to the story going foward. Again your feedback is much appreciated so the next chapter can be from a flexible POV, either from Batgirl/BlackBat(which may include an appearance from Scarecrow) or Nightwing(a visit from Catwoman, perhaps?) So please offer your opinion on who you think it should be. I'll probably update tomorrow or Saturday so until then..**

**Remember to Read, Review, and Recommend! TheHer0**

**Gotham: Quake**

Red Hood I

Jason looked down at Bane's body. It was now laying in a pool of blood, which seeped underneath Jason's foot. _Disgusting. Damned terrorist deserved one to the face... Less blood that way._ The Red Hood turned his gaze over to Tim, who was staring blankly at Damian's unmoving body. He rushed over, taking off his helmet and kneeling down to take a look at the youngest bat. Both of his legs were broken, shattered into pieces. A couple of ribs were cracked, and a thin line of blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. He was in terrible shape. Then again, Tim wasn't very stable, either. Jason reached for the former replacement, who collapsed in his arms, exhausted.

"Its my fault, Jason. I'm supposed to look out for him. Its my fault." Tim had this habit of blaming everything bad that happened on him. He often felt like he needed to prove himself somehow. Jason didn't quite know how to respond to situations like this, so he said the first thing that came to his mind.

"You know thats not true." Tim looked up, expecting more. "Don't you want to know why I'm here?" the Red Hood added awkwardly. Silence. "Fine. Just remember who saved your ass in the first place. Come on, we're taking Damian back home."

"Home?"

"We can't get to the cave from out here. I checked all the entrances. We'll have to go through the Manor."

It took the trio thirty minutes to get to Wayne Manor, Damian in a heap on Jason's shoulders and Tim dragging a bit behind. They had left Bane's body where it was, as there really was no use. It would take Tim a while to get over the sudden turn of events, though Jason had already put it in the back of his mind. He had seen too much over the past couple of years to be scarred by a simple death. Besides, Bane was nothing special to him. Jason wasn't about to see the big deal they made out of him. To Jason, he was just another drugged up terrorist bastard waiting to get pumped full of led.

Usually he would have laughed at that one, but he was way to distracted by the sights before him to think like himself. Red Hood had only arrived in town the night before, for unspecified reasons, and hadn't really planned a little family reunion. But if he did happen to run into one of his old "aquaintances", he certainly didn't expect it to be on these terms. Everything was in ruins. Not a building in sight was standing. Not even the main outlet of Wayne Tech, and that was specially reinforced to withstand the largest of earthquakes. Something was wrong. This definately was not what it seemed to be. And for he himself to notice that, well then there was probably something _really_ wrong.

They had arrived to find that Wayne Manor was halfway up, the ceiling had caved in and the windows had shattered, but something else was missing. _The door? _The three heroes were approaching the front lawn when Tim caught sound of voices.

"Someone's in there, and it's not Alfred." Red Robin grimly stated.

Jason handed Damian over to to Tim, and drew his handgun. "Stay here with Robin, I'll see whats going on." Creeping over to the broken entrance, Red Hood backed into cover by the outside door frame and listened.

"I'll ask you one more time, butler! Where's Wayne?" There was the sound of someone firing into the ground and the aggresive voice asked again, louder and angrier, "Where is he!"

"Hands off, pal!" Sneered Red Hood, who turned and fired a bullet right in the knee of Alfred's attacker, who turned around. _Dent!_

"What are you waiting for? Get him!" Two-Face yelled, shortly before recieving a knee to the back by Wayne's butler. "You're really askin' for it, old man, get up!" Two-Face whipped around and backhanded the old butler with his pistol, taking him by the collar and dragging him away.

Meanwhile Red Hood rolled to his left and took out three of Two-Face's men with his gun, then flipped over the next and elbowed the back of his head, knocking him out. Raising his sidearm, the Red Hood advanced on Two-Face, only to realize the former D.A had Alfred in his arms with a gun to his head.

"I only came here for the money, but it appears you guys don't give me any slack these days, to be honest its depressing. How about we cut a deal, Heads I let him go, you let me go. Tails I shoot him in the head. Then we can go from there." Jason would have shot him dead, right there, right then. He was distracted, it was the perfect opportunity... but his gun was out. He should have noticed beforehand. _Good thing my mask is on, because we'd all be screwed. _The Hood looked down, but kept his head still, and caught sight of an AK-47 on the ground, laying next to the henchman he had just taken out. If he could get to that before Dent-

Too late, the coin was up in the air and on its way back down. On impulse, Jason dropped to the floor, swiftly grabbed the AK, and unleashed a hail of bullets at the floor, hoping to hit Dent's feet as Alfred was being raised slightly in the air. Unfourtunately, the bullets caught none of Dent's feet, and all of the already unstable ground due to the earthquake. The wood rumbled, and with a splintering crack the two were gone, falling to the depths below, falling into the Batcave.


	5. Nightwing 2

**Hey guys, I am so, so sorry for not updating in a long time. The cause of this was my little brother spilling his orange juice all over my keyboard, then proceeding to knock my entire laptop onto the floor. Yeah. So it took a long time to get a new one and set it up and all but I'm back and that's all in the past now so activities **_**should **_**get back to normal from now on. The geography in this chapter is mostly made up for story purposes, as the locations of a couple things are from different sources that I put together for plot elements. Anyway lets get to the story, its been a long wait but I'm back so**

**Remember to Read, Review, and Recomend, TheHer0**

**Gotham: Quake**

Nightwing II

Everything was gone. Not a single building in Gotham stood tall, not a single stone was left unturned, literally. Dick Grayson surveyed his city from the Metro-Narrows Bridge, one of the longest expansion bridges in America, designed for direct traffic from the northerneastern coast of New Jersey to New York City. At the very end of this bridge resided Star City, altough the two cities were no longer connected, as half of the bridge was deep under the water, along with countless lives.

Apparently the government had not been informed, nor had the news stations gotten word just yet. Though Nightwing doubted this side of the bridge would be without at least one camera crew by noontime. They would swarm him, and hound him with questions on the whereabouts of just about every person inside the damned city. And Nightwing would not have the answer to any of them. He hated being so helpless, so unable to control anything. He should be in there, helping out, doing _something. _But he had blacked out halfway through his escape, the last thing he remembered being his grappling hook not catching anything, and him falling hard and falling fast, then nothing.

The first thing he remembered upon waking up was Selina Kyle's cleavage. Don't take it the wrong way, she was leaning over, in that ever-low cut body suit that practically begged for attention. She was asking if he was alive in that sultry voice of hers, in that same voice that she used now.

"So, what do I get for savin' your life? A little thank you kiss, perhaps?"

"Not now, Selina."

"Hey now, don't be using those names out here, we're supposed to be proffessional. Unless you wanna tell me your name..." she tailed off, knowing full well he wasn't gonna bite, but she went for it anyway. He was handsome and all, and even though she prefered the big Bat, it always helped to get a few points here and there.

Nightwing didn't bother to respond, he just looked out over the sea and landed his eyes on a smoldering part of the city. _Hopefully its a signal fire, or just for warmth, whatever it is I hope it means someone's alive. I have to get down there. _Nightwing looked around. _How the hell did she get me up here? We're miles out, up in the air hundreds of feet... _He gave up.

"Catwoman, how in hell did we get here?" Selina nodded her head in the direction of a speedboat almost directly underneath them.

"The said captain of that boat wasn't hard to persuade, all I had to do was-"

"That's enough, Selina thanks." Dick looked behind them, and saw the former "captain" laying on the ground, still unconscious. He would have said something about that, putting an innocent person in distress for her own purposes, but then again, it did save his life, and she was almost impossible to reason with, so he let it go and focused on his new objective, getting to that fire. "I need to get down there, that fire had to be started by _someone._"

"Whoa. You're going _down there?_ Into the city? It's pure hell over there, you'd be crazy to go back."

"I'd be crazy not to, Selina. The city needs my help. I can't leave it now, not like this.

"Just you? I don't see why I wasn't included." Catwoman walked towards Nightwing, striking her diva-like pose. Dick shrugged past her and knelt down, trying to judge the distance to the shore.

"You're a criminal. The fact that you saved me is appreciated, but I don't have time for you now. Just stay out of trouble while I'm gone."

"Whoa there, thats no excuse. Do you really think I'm just going to sit here while you go back in that hellhole? Besides I would die of boredom. Now I'm going back whether you like it or not."

Nightwing narrowed his eyes and sighed. "Fine. But stay with me. No killing, no flirting, and no stealing, got it?"

Selina smiled and led the way down to the speedboat, knowing she won. "You really know how to show a woman a good time, I'll tell you that!" Nightwing just shook his head, wondering what he was getting himself into.

...

Nightwing led the way on foot, being that was really the only way to travel with everything at ground level. There was still whole roads with less debris than some, making them easier to navigate. The pair continued at a steady pace towards the source of the fire, which they had begun to feel on their faces. He turned over his shoulder and spoke: "Okay, we still don't know who started it, so its best to tread lightly."

"Are you kidding? _You're_ telling _me_ to tread lightly? And I thought you were the smart one."

"Actually, that's my brother." _Tim! I totally forgot! Oh God, he can't handle himself in this, what if- _Dick's train of thought was cut off by a quiet "thump" noise, almost as if someone had suddenly slumped to the ground. _Uh-oh. _He whirled around, ecrisma sticks in hand, and was met by a metal-encased fist, turning his world to black.


	6. Red Hood 2

**So this is another Jason chapter, and it really delves into him as a character. Things get kind of heated between him and Tim(who steps up and helps Jason cope with who he is, what he's done) and things go to a flashback that is really important to Jason's plot line. Anyway this is the longest chapter yet(almost a full 1400 words!) so **

**Remember to Read, Review, and Recommend! TheHer0**

**Gotham: Quake**

Red Hood II

Jason sighed as he looked at himself in the reflection of his helmet. It wasn't like he needed it anymore. _Why do I have to be so damn stupid! I wasn't careful, I was reckless... and now he knows._ Jason glanced in Two-Face's direction. The DA-turned criminal was still unconsious, locked up in the transparent holding cell at the other side of the cave. Jason had shoved him in their shortly after his fall; shortly after he_ knew._ Jason scrambled to his feet after he fired the shots, getting up and practically launching himself through the hole after the two men. He was able to grab hold of Alfred and swing to safety, though he wasn't able to save the old butler's heart rate from escalating, it was much better than what would've happened. Jason remembered setting Alfred down when he heard the sounds of shock from Dent, and the following words: "Bruce Wayne... is-" Somehow Tim had snuck down there, with Damian, and took Two-Face out. But not before he knew.

"You still wear it, huh?" Tim's voice jolted Jason from his thoughts. He looked down at the emblem on his chest, the Bat-symbol. Jason didn't respond. After he'd left them about a year ago, he really hadn't given much thought to the symbol. Even though he considered himself distant, it just seemed wrong to get rid of it. "That's not a bad thing, you know. That you still care."

"I don't care!" Jason yelled as he got up from his crouch, not wanting to have this conversation.

"Well, that's a littlle harsh don't you think?" Tim recieved no answer, so he kept going. "You're still welcome here, you know. What happened, happened, Jason. It's over. You can come back now."

"No I can't! Not after what I did! I couldn't even save him." He gestured to Damian's unmoving body on the cave floor.

"What are you talking about, Jay? You saved his and my ass today. And he would've died if it weren't for you that night."

"Cut the crap, Tim! You know damned well the Joker would've waited for Batman to show up before he tried anything! If I had just waited..." Jason screamed in frustration and furiously beat his helmet against the cave wall, shattering bits of pieces across the floor and throwing what was left aside.

Tim did not back down. "You saved Damian's life-"

"I killed two people!"

"Gordon wasn't your fault, Jason. You have to know that."

"It is my fault! I killed the two people outside of this family that were off limits."

"I thought you wanted the Joker dead. I thought that was your only reason for coming back."

"It was. But then I re-joined you. Bruce had his rules, and I was determined to follow them. I was determined to prove my worth. And I failed. Again."

"Jason,"

"I hadn't killed a man in six months. I was on the path to redemption. But it all fell apart, and I killed two men."

"_You_ killed one man. And I'm not even sure he qualifies as one!"

"If I hadn't moved. If I had just taken the bullet myself, Gordon would still be alive!"

"And so would the Joker!" Tim advanced on Jason, getting in his face. "Damian would have died, you would have died, and probably Gordon too! And you know what, Bruce wouldn't take that. You know full well he would've snapped. He would've put that clown away himself! And I don't even want to think about what could've happened next. But we don't have to, because you where there." Tim's voice died down, and he backed off. "Now you have to make a decision. Right here, right now. You're either going to push it away, and get over it, or get swallowed by it, and let it haunt you forever. Your choice." Tim turned around and walked over to Alfred, who was just beginning to wake up.

Jason stood there, head down, fists clenched. Tim was right. He had to deal with this now or he'll never get over it. But no matter what he did, he couldn't stop the flood of memories rushing towards him...

**Old GCPD Headquarters, One Year Ago**

"Tell me, kid. Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?" The Joker looked down, recieving no response from his wrapped up little bird. "Well, if you do, tell me what its like so I can prepare when my time's up." The Joker reared back and let out a roar of maniacal laughter.

"Laugh, you imbosile!" Pulling off his glove, Joker brought it across the Robin's face, occompanied by a satisfying _slap_. "Hmm. One more!" _Slap! _"Harley!"

"Yes, Mr. J?"

He handed her the glove. "Go get me that... thing, will you?"

Harley pouted. "What exactly.."

"Go!" The Joker shook his head, watching her as she scurried off. He turned to Damian, "Women. But then again how would you know?" The still silent Damian just stared down the clown with his demon-eyes. "You know, you were much more chatty three hours ago. Very loud and quite rude." Joker paused to tap on the young boy's forehead, "Much like the other Robin I killed, what was his name... oh who cares." Another laugh erupted from the psycho just as Harley trotted up with a plunger.

"Is this what you wanted, Mr. J?"

Joker took one look at the item in her hand and promptly smacked her across the face. "No, not that thing, you idiot! I don't know why I even _deal_ with you anymore! Go! Get out of my sight!" She turned, wailing, and ran off into another room, as Damian tried to fight off the drugs holding him back. "Now where were we?"

Suddenly there was a loud bang, and the door of the room was kicked open by none other than the Red Hood. "Jason! That was your name! I don't know how I could forget with you and your 'new take' on my outfit. Pretty stylish, if you ask me, but nothing tops the number I wore back in the day! Ahahahahaa!"

"Can it, Joker! This gun will put one right in your head!"

"Funny story, actually, I happen to have one just like that..."

Seeing the Joker's hand reach into his jacket, Jason quickly got the jump on the clown and turned sideways, just in time to see the bullet whiz by and hit the wall. Only it wasn't the wall at the other end of the impact. There was the sickening sound of the bullet hitting its target and a cry rang out from behind Jason. He turned around to see Commissioner Jim Gordon slump against the wall, blood already beginning to puddle at his feet. "No!" Turning his attention back to Joker, He fired one shot, then two, and then another, all finding themselves in the gut of the Joker.

Shaking, Joker dropped his gun and looked up at Jason, smiling to the end. "HeHeHeHeHe... ever so bold, aren't we? See now this is funny. I killed you, so you come back and return the favor! And right in front of the Bat! Ha!"

Jason turned to see the horrified faces of his brothers and The Batman. "If only you had done it with a crowbar... Ah, what the heck! HaHaHaHaHaHaHa!" The Joker spread his arms wide, coughed up a hunk of blood, and fell backwards out the nearby window, laughing all the way until he was cut off abrubtly, forever.

**Present Day**

It was then Jason had ran, stowed away the Joker's body deep underground, and left Gotham. He thought it was forever, the very last time he would see his family. As it turns out fate lead him here today. And Jason decided that it was for good. He walked over to where Tim was, tending to Alfred, who was already looking much better. "Well?" Was all Tim said.

"Well... What are you waiting for? We have work to do."


End file.
